INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS; Statoil Chief Offers to Resign

The chief executive of the Norwegian state oil company, Statoil, Harald Norvik, said yesterday that he had offered his resignation after Norway's Government dismissed the board of the company. ''I have offered to resign,'' Mr. Norvik said. ''A new board of Statoil will decide whether I will stay on or go.''

Mr. Norvik's offer came after the Norwegian oil minister, Anne Enger Lahnstein, announced a Government decision to remove the Statoil board because of huge cost overruns in developing the Aasgard oil and gas field. Mr. Norvik defended the project, saying that although costs were running high at Aasgard it would still prove profitable.